The present invention relates to a scheduling system. More specifically, the present invention relates to a resource-based scheduling system that schedules appointments for resources based on capacity.
Current automated scheduling systems are adapted to automatically schedule appointments for resources that can serve a single user. Even where the resource can serve a plurality of different customers or consumers, it is scheduled as if it can serve only one. For instance, some scheduling systems allow a user to schedule the use of a conference room. Even though the conference room can contain multiple individuals, the conference room is scheduled the same regardless of how many individuals will be using the conference room. Therefore, if a single user wishes to schedule a conference room, the conference room is booked during the time period requested by the single user. However, if multiple users wish to schedule the conference room for a meeting, the conference room is again booked for the time requested for the meeting. There is no difference between booking the resource (i.e., the conference room) for a single user and booking it for multiple users.
Current scheduling systems that schedule resources that can handle separate appointments by multiple customers or users simultaneously are primarily scheduling systems which rely on hand entries. A scenario which illustrates some of the complexities associated with such a system is a blood center. For example, in such centers, there are often several different types of resources which can be scheduled for multiple customers at any given time. One resource includes the beds available for blood donors. A blood center may, for example, have ten beds such that ten different customers can be giving blood at any given time.
However, such businesses offer additional complexities. The same blood center may have then beds, but only three nurses or technicians on staff to begin the blood donation process. Therefore, even though ten customers can be giving blood at any given time, only three new donors can be admitted and set up for blood donation at a given time. The same blood center may also have different resources, such as doctors, which are available for consultations. Assuming the blood center has three doctors, three different consultations can be going on at any one time. Further, three different consultations can be started at the same time, so long as the doctors are available at that time.
To add further complexity to such a system, the available resources may change from day to day, or even throughout a single day. For example, doctors, nurses and technicians at the blood center may be unavailable during lunch, or during breaks at different times of the day. In addition, the staffing of the blood center may vary throughout the week so there are more personnel on staff during certain days of the week, and less during other days of the week.
From this example, it can be seen that, in general, any given business has a product mix (which can be tangible products or services) that the business is trying to sell or schedule. The way in which the resources (or products) are scheduled is based on availability and capacity. However, the efficiency and productivity of the business may depend on how well appointments for resources can be scheduled, such that the capacity of the resources is maximally used. To date, this has been done using manually maintained scheduling books and calendar systems.